So, I haven't been around this week. Where have I been?
Oh yeah. That's right. Pursuing my new hobby, one guaranteed to make me the coolest kid on the block and the biggest Babe Magnet of all time. You guessed it: Birding.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Damn, why didn't I decide to spend all of the last two sunny afternoons sneaking through brush at the city parks, ruining my eyesight while trying to identify diving ducks from at least 1000 feet away?
I know, I know. But we can't all be the cool kid. Only a few of us get to see Greater White-fronted Geese (SIX OF THE MO-FOS!!) at the Montlake Fill; only a few of us get to feel good about ourselves, crouched in between the goose poop, alarming passers-by as we squawk "Did you see that?? Do you see that, right there?!" Only a few of us know what a Rhinoceros Auklet is. Or care. But you can still aspire to greatness. Maybe start with your robins, move onto your black-capped chickadees and bush tits. Someday, you, too, might be emailing a birding list to report what you've found.
You might even find yourself with an Audubon form in hand, trying to choose between a class on birding by ear and a two-night series on bird anatomy. Who do you think you are, making that kind of decision? Just take them both. Don't worry. I'll be the one in the desk next to you, jabbering about how I'm pretty sure I need to buy a spotting scope because I almost had the ID on a Yellow-Billed Loon the other day, except I couldn't confirm it with my binoculars.
Sure, some of you might recall how long CB's been overseas and posit that all of my newfound birding zeal is driven by some pent-up energy I've been harboring. But you are wrong. WRONG. My pileated woodpeckers are way cooler than whatever I used to do with spare time.
I need help.
Or a Master Birder. Yeah, definitely the latter.
Silence, you and your dirty minds! I can hear you thinking from over the internet. I kid you not.
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2 comments:
I was taking a walk in my neighborhood on Thursday and, as I was coming down the hill, a bald eagle sailed across the sky right in front of me, landing in an nearby tree. I see eagles frequently on my official "trail" walks but this was the first in my own neighborhood. Not exactly a challenge to ID a bald eagle when you see one, but it still gives me an unimaginable thrill every time it happens.
One of the coolest things I saw at the Montlake Fill was a pair of bald eagles, actually. There's just nothing like them. These two were dive-bombing the local widgeons, although I think they missed.
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